A VERY RARE TWO-HAND SWORD (FEDERSCHWERT) FOR USE IN THE FECHTSCHULEN, GERMAN OR SWISS, 16TH CENTURY with slender blade of rectangular section thinning progressively towards a spatulate tip, stamped with the letter "H" four times at the base on both sides, broad ricasso flaring to a pair of lugs, and both sides cut with a pair of broad gutters and struck with repeated paired arrangements of the letter "H" about an incised device, addorsed fleur-de-lys (perhaps heraldic), with rounded crosspiece formed with a small medial point and swelling tips, stopper-shaped pommel, and original leather-bound grip (the upper part of the grip repaired). 107.4 cm; 42¼ in blade Two-hand swords with blades of this distinctive type are well-illustrated in many of the instructional Fechtbücher printed in the late 15th century and throughout the 16th century. Despite their widespread use in training for foot combat, period swords of this type are now very rare. Comparable examples attributed to circa 1520 are in the Landesmuseum Zurich (Schweizerisches Nationalmuseum), inv. nos. KZ 193, KZ 1029 and KZ 1030; see Schneider and Stüber 1980, nos. 169,170 and 171, pp. 120-121. The second of these examples (KZ 1029) was also included in L'Épée - Usages, mythes et symboles, loan exhibition, musée de Cluny - musée national du Moyan Age, 28 April -26 September 2011. Another, attributed to the 15th century, is in the Museum Altes Zeughaus, Solothurn (MAZ 313); see Mäder 2013, pp. 84-87.